A Skeleton's Duty (Death Knight Series Book 4)

by Michael Chatfield

Tommie lowered his cutter, his body relaxing. He waited some time before he looked up. “I’ll come.” He looked at the metal in front of him with new determination.

  “You can still look for your father,” Anthony said.

  “He would understand. And with you two, you need someone who’s sane to make sure you don’t get into trouble. I’ll finish my repairs and take the trial,” Tommie said.

  “You want to become a Guardian?”

  “You’re a good poster boy—let’s just say that,” Tommie said.

  Anthony let out a laugh and smiled.

  “Keep your armor on,” Tommie warned. He seemed to have a flashback as he shivered. “Go do what you need to. I’ll finish this up first. I’ll do the trial in the morning and sleep while we’re traveling.

  “I thought you hated sleeping on beasts?”

  “Doesn’t mean I can’t do it when I’m drained,” Tommie said, not looking at Anthony as he kept shaping the metal in his hands.

  ***

  Claire had not slept or done anything but create Guardian Flame enchantments before they left Ascen.

  She had to have created hundreds if not thousands of the devices. People from Epan and Ilsal had secretly entered the city. Guardians that Anthony and Aila oversaw as they took their trials appeared, assisting in settling down the city.

  The judges all worked together to help give the city direction. The lands around the city were all modified and crops were grown upon the soil. Merchants hesitantly arrived in the city. There were all kinds of goods for sale; the Guardians had cleared out the nobles and their ill-gotten gains. Selling off their useless junk, they gathered money to pay people, food to feed them, weapons and armor to ready the United Army that was being trained up.

  Guardian Flames were starting to appear in other cities, assisting in cleansing the corruption and giving rise to the oppressed.

  “I didn’t think that the corruption ran so deep,” Aila muttered to herself as they were riding Ramona and Ryan. Rachel was trailing behind, carrying their supplies.

  “Corruption is not something that takes over in a short period. It can take years or generations for it to infiltrate a society, but once it is in place, it is incredibly hard to remove. It is easier to just give in than to try to go against it.

  “Once it is removed, it is easy for it to take root once again as there are more gaps left in the system afterward. If we just needed Guardian’s Judgement, then we wouldn’t need the Guardian Flames. We wouldn’t even need that many Guardians. Just one trial—boom, done.” Claire laughed and shook her head.

  “Guardian’s Judgement is just a tool, not a solution. The Guardian Flames connect everyone together with instant communication across Dena. People can be dispatched in hours or days instead of weeks and months that it would take a messenger to reach the other party and then for them to travel to the location needing aid. Once the corruption is removed, if it is deep, just like we saw in Ascen, people need to step in the way of that corruption coming back. What would have happened if after those trials we just left?”

  “Then there would be a lot of judged people helping out the innocent. The…” Aila frowned as her imagination painted a dark picture.

  “The former slaves might turn on their masters, gathering the courage to kill or hurt them. Meaning that another Guardian’s Judgement would be needed to convict them. People would start to look at how they could avoid judgement and carry out their crimes. They might even figure out a few ways to do it.” Claire shrugged. “People don’t need to just be saved; they need direction as well. So with the city in a period of growth, giving people jobs, allowing trade to continue, building more fields, this expansion takes their mind off the past and look toward the future. With the judges, the Guardians, and the people we brought over, they can start to create an administration to run the city, bring people in from all areas of Ascen.

  “We didn’t give them a clean slate; we gave them one that is covered with cracks and marks. It will take time for them to come back. If done right, they will be stronger than ever. If not, then it will regress again. Order, peace, whatever you want to call it. Like corruption, it takes time for it to grow, but once it grows and spreads, then it is hard to be destroyed. Someone smart once said that the peace of today was paid for by the blood of yesterday, today, and tomorrow. To have peace, there need to be people who give what they have for the society they care for—serving the whole, joining the military, joining the Guardians, the administration and leadership.”

  Claire’s words left Aila thinking as Ryan continued to carry her onward.

  With Laisa, Anthony not only removed those corrupt officials, he placed new ones who would change the path of Laisa. In Skalafell, he left the Black Rags. In the Deepwood, once he found that leader and reported it higher, they dealt with it and he didn’t do anymore. He didn’t do anything in Epan and Ilsal as there was already a system in place. In Ascen, didn’t he leave Claire and me with the Guardian Tower to establish control?

  ***

  Tamarra walked into the command center. At this late hour, there were still people working.

  “Doomsday doors have been seen across the islands,” the overseeing general said. He was a gruff-looking hobgoblin.

  “Send out the closest units to destroy the doors before they fully materialize. Make that our top priority. Activate all of our military units. We are now on a war standing. Unveil the lit Guardian Flames across the islands,” Tamarra said.

  A human communication mage came over to the duo from the side and held out a piece of paper. “Top priority message. One of the gates seems to have materialized already on Yelling Atoll. It was missed due to it being in barren lands,” the communication mage reported.

  Tamarra looked up at the general. “Focus on destroying the gates that are not established already. Spread scouts across the islands with sensing spells to track every damn gate. Move the allied fleet to attack and bombard the location from the sea and move forces from Epan’s middle cities to the south. Make sure that they destroy any doors they find along the way or else they could be flanked,” Tamarra ordered.

  “Yes, ma’am.” The hobgoblin started to yell out orders as the allied forces of Epan and Ilsal went to work.

  “There is a message from the elves,” one of the judge liaisons said, stepping forward.

  Tamarra looked at the message from Watcher Cecilia. “Damn.” Tamarra put the message on the table.

  The general finished giving his orders and communication mages started to send them out to relay stations across the islands that would pass the information to the necessary commanders. Others went to the Guardian Flames and started to relay information to different cities.

  Thankfully Claire made a ton of the Guardian Flame enchantments in her time here. With them, we can know what is happening across the islands in real time.

  “We aren’t the only ones seeing them—sightings from the elven side as well.” Tamarra pointed to the letter that the hobgoblin picked up and studied.

  “Inform Watcher Cecilia of our situation and pass her information on to the other groups we are in contact with,” Tamarra said.

  “The Watcher also says that she has activated her armies to clear the doors in her lands and hopes to work with our forces to sweep into Selenus. She has sent agents into the beast kin lands to place Guardian Flames but she needs more.”

  “Use our channels to give them half of our stockpile,” Tamarra said.

  The liaison nodded as one of Tamarra’s aides moved away to talk with them.

  “Seems that it has started.” Tamarra looked at the map in front of her. Claire told me about what would happen. Still, a part of me thought that it would never happen again. Now that it’s here, Tamarra took a deep breath and rubbed her face, I don’t think that I’ll be getting much sleep in the coming days.

  Chapter: Weight in one’s eyes

  Tommie made sure that the last of the boxes holding the Gnominator were secured. The horse looke
d strained already with the weight.

  “I miss Rachel.” He sighed as he stepped before the Guardian Flame.

  “I want to be a Guardian,” Tommie said before he could think his words over more.

  The flame created a trial as the different judges looked at Tommie.

  “Let’s see how worthy I am,” Tommie said.

  The judges of the Tribunal didn’t waste any words. The eyes appeared around Tommie and his eyes closed, his head slumping forward.

  He opened his eyes a few minutes later but in his eyes, he seemed to have aged years. He looked at the Guardians with a new respect and bowed his head to the judges.

  He didn’t feel as wound up as before. Not only was he more confident having learned about himself, he felt as if his mind had been opened to a new world. He had been focused on his Gnominator, but down the different paths in his life, he had used dwarven rifles and pistols, human swords and beast kin hammers, goblin explosives. There were a lot of explosives. A slight grin stole on his face as a goblin-like twinkle appeared in his eyes. Elven arrows and even elemental magic: he had used it all. The tools didn’t matter; it was the user.

  If my father died, then I will mourn and preserve his memory. If he did not, then I will hug him and tell him of my travels. Spending my time here—I will only regret not going with my friends.

  Tommie had found his truth and his path.

  He looked up, waiting for them to tell him he had failed.

  “Do you agree to carry out the duties of a Guardian, sworn to protect this Dena, its people, whether human, beast kin, gnome, dwarf, goblin, elven, or elemental?”

  “I do,” Tommie coughed out, choking a bit on his own spit, surprised.

  A few among the trial tried to hide their smile. The gnome gave a wink and a thumbs-up like a proud grandmother, making Tommie’s face heat up.

  “Repeat after me, the Guardian Oath,” the hobgoblin wearing a backpack filled with explosives said.

  ***

  “Tuckered ’lil guy,” Damien said.

  The group was headed north out of Laisa, following the half-dirt road. Their mounts ran at a pace they could maintain. They had a long distance to cover and they needed them if they wanted to get into the other cities. Arriving on a dragon would be a bit of a giveaway.

  Three more people tried to become Guardians, but were denied the test and given the status of acolytes. They would need to train up before they could take the test. The Guardians did not want young people searching for glory or power; they wanted people who had lived a life, who had learned along the way. Tommie was young, but he had seen a great amount of the world; he had gone through his own tests and tribulations, through highs and lows.

  “Easier to disguise him as a bunch of supplies that way.” Anthony looked back at the pack horses. One could hear snoring from one of the sacks.

  He looked to the others in the group with them. There were several warriors from the Church of Light, the saintess, and two priests.

  “Defilers,” the saintess said under her breath.

  “Well, this will be a lovely journey,” Damien commented.

  Anthony pulled off his helmet.

  A few of the Church of Light people screamed as Anthony grabbed his skull and turned it around, facing them. He cackled and snapped his teeth together. The group went pale.

  Damien pulled his helmet off as well. “Undead isn’t a good look for you—you look absolutely bat shit.”

  “I was having fun,” Anthony complained.

  Damien rolled his fiery eyes.

  Anthony shrugged and grabbed his head. As he tried to put it on the right way, he went over a bump, juggling his head around. He yelled, before he caught his head with his foot.

  “Are you having fun playing head ball?” Damien tilted his head as Anthony worked to grab his head off his foot.

  “Really.” Damien snorted. “Put your foot in your mouth.” Damien couldn’t hold back anymore and he laughed and slapped his leg.

  Anthony winced, seemingly in physical pain, as he retrieved his head off his foot and put it on his spine.

  “Too good, too good,” Damien said, starting to regain his senses.

  “You need your head checked,” Anthony muttered. “Weren’t you taught to be respectful to your elders?”

  “Well, the way I see it, you were sleeping that entire time. So like you weren’t really living, right? I was up and running around, so that makes me your senior,” Damien said.

  “I was born before you!”

  “And asleep for like centuries!”

  “Hey, sometimes you just need to take a nap!”

  There was a noise of annoyance. As if by reaction, Tommie’s hand appeared out of his sack and threw a spare part at Anthony.

  Anthony and Damien winced at each other and looked back at the pack horse. Tommie was already asleep again.

  “Did he even wake up?” Damien asked in a low voice.

  “I don’t think so.” Anthony held the spare part. He put it into his saddlebags, noticing the looks that he was getting from the other members of their group.

  “They look gloomy,” Anthony said with a thumb.

  “What does it matter what they look like? They’re a bunch of dumb pricks who followed the Church of Light, slaughtering and murdering innocents for their own sadistic code of honor,” Damien spat.

  “We cleansed the lands in the name of the Lord of Light! You undead creatures of darkness!” the saintess yelled out.

  “Letanya, you’re the one who betrayed Tysien, right?” Anthony said.

  Letanya seemed shaken up with Anthony’s words.

  “Seems that you do remember her. I wonder, did you let her escape?”

  “Yes.” Letanya’s bindings flared up and she let out an angry growl, snapping her reins.

  “Interesting. So you, the person who killed an entire village, a village that was probably not unlike your own, let one of the people you despise live,” Anthony mused aloud.

  “She cared for you so deeply that you cut her deep—not with a blade or weapon. She devoted her life to the military, to defending the people. She is probably on that bloody battlefield right now, fighting for the people around her and the people in the villages behind her. Did you know that because of you, she hates all humans? Kind of ironic, isn’t it?” Anthony laughed but it contained only chilling anger. “You slaughtered a village like yours—did it feel good, killing innocent people, mothers and fathers, daughters, sons, brothers and sisters?”

  “I only killed one person,” Letanya hissed.

  “Oh, one person? Why?”

  “I had to. They would have sounded the alarm,” Letanya said.

  “Had to? How many other people did you have to kill? How many people died in that village? If it wasn’t for you, none of them would’ve. You are not people of the Church of Light—you are just broken tools that worked for the Drafeng.”

  “The Lord of Light will cleanse Dena and your foulness!” a priest yelled.

  “Oh.” Anthony held out his hand. A spark of white power appeared there, forming into a ball. He had to raise his voice to be heard over the sound of their hooves. “I bet you didn’t know, but I was a knight of the Order of Light. We were a small group of people looking to heal and help. A group of healers.”

  Anthony let the ball disappear and they kept on going.

  “Seeing as we have the time, you should understand what is going on,” Damien said.

  “About five hundred years ago, Dena was filled with chaos. A bunch of people banded together, the races working together to create something together instead of apart. Made the Guardians—people to go out, help people and have the power to do it by themselves. Found that a group was behind most of the issues that were cropping up. They called themselves the Agents of Chaos. Nice name. Well, these people of Dena from across the globe were linked to these groups. We traced them back to these creatures called the Drafeng. Well, not me—I was a little young at the time. I was just traini
ng up.

  “Anyway, these Drafeng didn’t use mana like we do, where it’s a transference of energy. They consume it to power themselves. They were all over the place, stirring shit up. As we’re dealing with that chaos, these doors start to appear. We thought that it was just random. Few days later, Drafeng and their chaotic beasts start rushing through, killing people across Dena. The armies were forced to fight together to push back the Drafeng. They needed help working together so the Guardians helped. Lots of people died, but we pushed back the Drafeng. People were working together—it was a great time.

  “Underneath our eyes, the Drafeng, Agents of Chaos leaders, they hadn’t stopped. While we were focusing on the frontlines, they got into the population and the people. We recovered; they attacked. They took control aggressively. The Guardians were all over the place, trying to settle the people, deal with their plots. Perception of Guardians changed: people saw us as the reason for this pain, put the blame on us. The Order of Light changed to the Church of Light and together with the new emperor they attacked the Guardians, broke the tower and doused the Guardian Flame. Guardians were killed as they tried to help others.

  “People fled back to their homelands. The Drafeng played upon species and race divides, distracting and creating infighting among one another. People started to fight each other, until the humans invaded the beast kin. There were no Guardians left. They had been all killed now as war raged between the people of Dena.

  “I’m not saying that the Drafeng caused all of the violence in Dena. No, they didn’t need to—they just created the spark—the us and them divide—and that was all Dena needed. The lines reappeared and the divide became larger than ever before. Below these lands, people from all species and races are buried together, died for one another.

  “Above it, people were killing one another over their differences.”

  “We just came from the Guardian Tower, what you call the Church of Light in Ascen. Did you happen to see any humans in their upper echelon, Damien?” Anthony asked.